Motorcycle saddlebag mounting system

ABSTRACT

A saddlebag mounting system that eliminates the need for external fasteners on the rear fender and corresponding tail section. The saddlebag is mounted to the inner surface of the rear fender using a saddlebag mounting system, including a mounting bracket. The mounting bracket preferably includes an inner bracket coupled to the inner surface of the rear fender, and an outer bracket coupled to the inner bracket, the saddlebag being mounted to the outer bracket. The rear fender can be provided with an inner support mounted to the inner surface to facilitate attachment of the inner bracket. For example, the inner support can include a slotted opening, and a fastener can be used to couple the inner bracket to the inner support.

This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/365,296filed Jul. 30, 1999, the entire contents of which is herein incorporatedby reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of motorcycles and,more specifically, to the field of saddlebag mounting systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Motorcycles typically include fenders positioned over the wheels toprevent debris (e.g., dirt, water, etc.) from being thrown into the airas the motorcycle travels over a surface. For example, front and rearfenders can be positioned around the front and rear wheels,respectively.

The front fender can be coupled to the front fork of the motorcycle sothat the front fender turns with the fork and wheel. The front fendercan be secured to the fork so that the front fender either moves upwardwhen the front wheel encounters a bump or, alternatively, staysstationary relative to the upward moving wheel.

The rear fender can be coupled to the tail section of the frame in aposition over the rear wheel. This is commonly done in such a way thatthe rear fender does not move with the rear wheel when the rear wheelencounters a bump. In this design, the rear fender is typically boltedto the tail section of the motorcycle using bolts that pass through thetail section and through the rear fender.

Some motorcycles also include saddlebags that provide a compartment forstoring items on the motorcycle. Saddlebags are commonly mounted onopposing sides of the rear fender, and can be secured to the motorcycleusing the bolts that mount the rear fender to the tail section.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above-described design provides an adequate means for attaching therear fender and the saddlebags to a motorcycle. However, it can beunderstood that the above-described fender-mounting bolts will bevisible when the saddlebags are not mounted. Such a design can detractfrom the overall aesthetic quality of the motorcycle.

The present invention provides an improved saddlebag mounting systemthat eliminates the need for external fasteners on the rear fender andcorresponding tail section. In one aspect, the invention is embodied ina motorcycle comprising a frame, a front wheel coupled to the frame, anda rear wheel coupled to the frame. A rear fender is coupled to the frameand positioned over the rear fender, and a saddlebag is coupled to theinner surface of the rear fender. Preferably, the outer surface of therear fender is substantially free of mounting hardware for mounting thesaddlebag.

In one embodiment, the saddlebag is mounted to the inner surface of therear fender using a saddlebag mounting system, including a mountingbracket. The mounting bracket preferably includes an inner bracketcoupled to the inner surface of the rear fender, and an outer bracketcoupled to the inner bracket, the saddlebag being mounted to the outerbracket.

The rear fender can be provided with an inner support mounted to theinner surface to facilitate attachment of the inner bracket. Forexample, the inner support can include a slotted opening, and a fastenercan be used to couple the inner bracket to the inner support.Preferably, the fastener includes a head portion positioned within theslotted opening. The slotted opening can take on a variety of shapes,but preferably includes a wide portion larger than the head portion ofthe fastener, and a narrow portion smaller than the head portion of thefastener. With this design, the head portion can be inserted into thewide portion and subsequently slid into the narrow portion. Tighteningof the fastener to the inner bracket will result in securing the innerbracket to the inner support.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of a motorcycle having a tail section.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the tail section illustratedin FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of the tail section of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the tail section illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a section view taken along line 5—5 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 5a is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 5.

FIG. 6 is a section is a section view taken along line 6—6 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a section view taken along line 7—7 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a section view taken along line 8—8 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a saddlebag mounting system embodyingthe present invention.

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal section view of the saddlebag mounting systemconnected to a motorcycle fender.

FIG. 11 is a section view taken along line 11—11 in FIG. 10 with thesaddlebag mounting system connected to the motorcycle and a saddlebagconnected to the mounting system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The motorcycle 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a frame 12, a seat 14coupled to the frame 12, a front wheel 16 coupled to the frame by afront fork 18, and a rear wheel 20 coupled to the frame by a swing armassembly 22. A tail section 24 forms the rear portion of the motorcycle10 underneath the seat 14 and above the rear wheel 20.

Referring to FIGS. 2-8, the tail section 24 includes tail supports 26coupled to the frame 12. In the illustrated embodiment, the tailsupports 26 are formed integrally with the frame 12 in a conventionalmanner, but could also be bolted to the frame 12. The tail supports 26include inner surfaces 28 (FIG. 5) facing toward the centerline of themotorcycle 10, and outer surfaces 30 facing away from the centerline ofthe motorcycle 10. For ease of illustration, only one side of the tailsection 24 is illustrated in FIG. 2. In this regard, only one side ofthe tail section 24 will be described below, unless otherwise noted.

A rear fender 32 is positioned between the tail supports 26, andincludes flanges 34 extending downwardly adjacent the inner surfaces 28of the corresponding tail supports 26. The rear fender 32 is coupled tothe tail supports 26 by a fender mounting assembly including a lowprofile fastener 36 extending through the tail support 26 and throughthe corresponding flange 34 in the rear fender 32. The illustratedfastener 36 includes a stud plate 38 and two threaded studs 40 securedto the stud plate 38. Preferably, the threaded studs 40 include a lowprofile head 42. Threaded nuts 44 are threaded onto the threaded studs40 to hold the assembly together.

In order to provide rigidity to the rear fender 32, the fender mountingassembly includes inner supports 46 mounted along the inner surface ofeach flange 34. The inner supports 46 are secured to the tail supports26 by the low profile fasteners 36 and corresponding nuts 44. The innersupports 46 extend rearward further than the tail supports 26 to providerigidity to the rear portion of the rear fender 32. A support fastener48 secures the end of the inner support 46 to the rear fender 32. Eachinner support 46 includes a groove 50 (FIGS. 6 and 7) that defines awire path, the importance of which is described below in more detail.

The motorcycle 10 further includes tail covers 52 positioned over thetail supports 26 and a portion of the rear fender 32. Each tail cover 52is secured to the tail support 26 by fasteners 54, and is designed tocover the low profile fastener 36 to thereby improved the aesthetics ofthe motorcycle 10. The tail cover 52 is also secured using an innerfastener 56 that extends through the inner support 46 and rear fender32, and threads into a threaded opening 58 in the tail cover 52. Anotherinner fastener 60 extends through the rear fender 32, and into anotherthreaded opening 62 in the rear end of the tail cover 52.

A tail light assembly 64 is mounted to the rear end of the rear fender32. The tail light assembly 64 includes a rear housing 66, a tail light68 mounted to the rear fender 32, and a rear lighting harness 70extending from the tail light 68 toward the front of the motorcycle 10.The rear housing 66 provides extra stiffness to the rear section of therear fender 32, provides a location 71 for mounting a license plate, andprovides protection to the rear lighting harness 70. The rear housing 66is secured to the rear fender 32 by the support fastener 48 that extendsthrough the rear fender 32, through the rear housing 66, and into theinner support. The rear housing 66 is also secured by the inner fastener60 that extends from the inside, through the rear housing 66 and rearfender 32, and into the threaded opening 62 in the tail cover 52.

The rear housing 66 includes a recessed portion 72 that facilitatesrouting the rear lighting harness 70 from the tail light 68 to thegroove 50 in the inner support 46. The rear lighting harness 70 travelsalong the groove 50 and passes through an opening 74 in the front of therear fender 32 where it can be routed to a main terminal (not shown).

A directional light assembly 76 is mounted to the tail cover 52 by afastener 78 extending from the inside of the tail cover 52. In thismanner, the fastener 78 will be completely hidden from view in the finalassembled product. Wires 80 from the directional lights extend throughthe tail cover 52 and through a fender opening to be routed to a cavitydefined between the rear housing 66 and the tail light 68. At thislocation, the wires 80 are coupled to the rear lighting harness 70.

The above-described motorcycle can be provided with a saddlebag mountingsystem 82, as illustrated in FIGS. 9-11. Mounting saddlebags on theillustrated motorcycle is difficult due to the fact that there are novisible fasteners along the sides of the rear fender 32. Typically, anysuch visible fasteners could be used to secure a saddlebag mountingbracket to the rear fender.

The illustrated saddlebag mounting system 82 overcomes this problem bymounting, on both sides of the motorcycle, an inner bracket 84 to theinside surface of the rear fender 32, and mounting the saddlebag 86 toan outer bracket 88 that is connected to the inner bracket 84. Morespecifically, the inner bracket 84 is fastened to the inner support 46that is connected to the inside surface of the rear fender 32. Referringto FIGS. 5 and 5a, the inner support 46 includes two raised portions 90that are spaced from the inner surface of the rear fender 32. Eachraised portion 90 includes a slotted opening 92 having a wide portion 94and a narrow portion 96. The bottom edge 98 of the wide portion 94 isaligned with and tangential to the bottom edge 100 of the narrow portion96. The narrow portion 96 further includes a top edge 102 that issubstantially parallel to the bottom 100 edge of the narrow portion 96.

Referring to FIGS. 9-11, the inner bracket 84 includes two openings 104that are spaced from each other by substantially same distance as thespacing between the slotted openings 92 in the inner support 46. Inorder to secure the inner bracket 84 to the inner support 46, carriagebolts 106 are inserted into each of the openings 104 of the innerbracket 84 from the outside, and corresponding nuts 108 are looselythreaded onto the carriage bolts 106. The heads 110 of the carriagebolts 106 are sized to be smaller than the wide portion 94 of theslotted openings 92 and larger than the narrow portion 96 of the slottedopenings 92. In this regard, the heads 110 of the carriage bolts 106 canbe inserted into the wide portions 94 of the corresponding slottedopenings 92, and then slid forward so that the carriage bolts 106 arepositioned in the narrow portion 96 of the slotted openings 92. As iscommon with standard carriage bolts, the illustrated carriage bolts 106each include a square shank 112 between the threaded shank 114 and thehead 110. The square shank 112 is dimensioned to slide within the narrowportion 96 of the slotted opening 92, and will not rotate once it is inthat position, thereby providing an antirotation effect. Once in thisposition, the nuts 108 can be tightened to secure the inner bracket 84to the inner support 46.

The inner bracket 84 and outer bracket 88 are interconnected by asupport member in the form of a generally U-shaped tube 116. The ends ofthe U-shaped tube 116 are secured to the inner bracket 84, and the outerbracket 88 is secured to a midportion of the U-shaped tube 116. A lowerportion 118 of the U-shaped tube 116 is designed to support the bottomof the saddlebag 86 (FIG. 11), as is known in the art. If desired, thelower portion 118 can also support a heat shield 120 (FIG. 9) to protectthe saddlebag 86 from heat dissipated by adjacent exhaust pipes ormufflers (not shown). A connecting member in the form of a connectingtube 122 is mounted between flanges 124 on the U-shaped tubes 116. Theconnecting tube 122 adds stability to the saddlebag mounting system 82.

Each outer bracket 88 includes two mounting holes 126 that facilitatemounting the saddlebag 86 to the outer bracket 88. In the illustratedembodiment, the saddlebag 86 is mounted to the outer bracket 88 using aquarter-turn fastener 128. Alternatively, screws, bolts, or otherappropriate fastener could be used.

The foregoing description of the present invention has been presentedfor purposes of illustration and description. Furthermore, thedescription is not intended to limit the invention to the form disclosedherein. Consequently, variations and modifications commensurate with theabove teachings, and the skill or knowledge of the relevant art, arewithin the scope of the present invention. The embodiments describedherein are further intended to explain best modes known for practicingthe invention and to enable others skilled in the art to utilize theinvention in such, or other, embodiments and with various modificationsrequired by the particular applications or uses of the presentinvention. It is intended that the appended claims be construed toinclude alternative embodiments to the extent permitted by the priorart.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of mounting a saddlebag to a motorcycle,the motorcycle including a frame, a front wheel coupled to the frame, arear wheel coupled to the frame, and a rear fender coupled to the frameand positioned over the rear wheel, the rear fender including an innersurface generally facing the rear wheel, the method comprising: directlymounting an inner support to the inner surface of the rear fender, theinner support extending longitudinally along the inner surface of therear fender; directly mounting a saddlebag mounting system to the innersupport; and supporting a saddlebag with the saddlebag mounting system.2. The method of claim 1, wherein directly mounting a saddlebag mountingsystem includes directly mounting an inner bracket to the inner support,the inner bracket extending between the wheel and the inner surface, andcoupling an outer bracket to the inner bracket, the outer bracketextending out from between the rear wheel and the inner surface, andwherein supporting a saddlebag further includes mounting the saddlebagto the outer bracket.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein directlymounting an inner bracket to the inner support includes positioning ahead portion of a fastener within a slotted opening of the innersupport.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein positioning a head portion ofa fastener includes inserting the head portion of the fastener into awide portion of the slotted opening, and sliding the head portion fromthe wide portion of the slotted opening to a narrow portion of theslotted opening.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein positioning a headportion of a fastener further includes tightening the fastener to securethe inner bracket relative to the inner support.